Caloric-engine for supplying gas-lamps with fuel.



No. 725,372. PATBNTBD APR, 14, 1903.

C. SCOTT-SNELL.

OALORIG ENGINE FOR SUPPLYING GAS LAMPS WITH FUEL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1902.

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No. 725,372. PATENTED'APR, 14, 1903. 0. SCOTT-SNELL.

GALORIG ENGINE FOR SUPPLYING GAS LAMPS'WITH FUEL.

' APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1902.

NO MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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No 725,372. PATENTEDAPR. 14, 1903. G. SCOTT-SNELL.

CALORIU ENGINE FOR SUPPLYING GAS LAMPS WITH FUEL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25. 1902.

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PATENTBD APR. 14, 1903.

0'. SCOTT-SNELL. GALORIO ENGINE FOR SUPPLYING GAS LAMPSWITH FUEL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1902.

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N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES SCOTT-SNELL, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

CALORlC-ENGINE FOR SUPPLYING GAS-LAMPS WITH FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 7 25,372, dated April14, 1903-.

Application filed July 25, 1902.. semi No- 11'7,00s. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES SCOTT-SNELL, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at 51 Victoria street, Westminster,London, S. W., England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Caloric-Engines for Supplying Gas-Lamps with Fuel, (forwhich I have made application for Letters Patent in Great Britain, No.

15,520, dated July 11, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for intensifying thepressure in incandescent gas-lamps.

My improvements in the compressing appaa single spring, preferably along helical' spring; third, in devices comprising valve arrangementsfor enabling the compressor to start automatically when the lamp isfirst lighted and emergency-levers for starting by hand, if desired;fourth, and in a bufier and piston arrangement to eliminate injuriousknocking of the displacer at the ends of thestroke. I find that theseimprovements greatly increase the efficiency and durability of thecompressor and render an incandescent lamp using-a compressor of thistype more reliable than ,has hitherto been the case.-

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a verticalsection of the upper part of a lamp with my invention applied. Theextreme left-hand side of this figure is not shown; but it is to beunderstood that it is the same as the right-hand half without thedelivery-pipe. In this view the piston is shown at the bottom of itsstroke. Fig. l is a detail of the emergency-levers. Fig. 2 is adiagrammatic view of the whole lamp. Figs. 3 and 4 are enlargedsectional views of the upward and downward flow check-valves, re-

spectivcly. Fig. 5 is a part vertical section of the piston andcylindrical extension, showing. the piston in at the top of the stroke.Figs. 6 and '7 are side and end elevations of the upper part of thelamp-body drawn to reduced scale, showing the positions of the valves 18and 19.

In carrying my invention into eifectaccording to one modification asapplied in self-intensifyinggas-lamps in which the air for combustion iscompressed instead of the gasI employ a long cylindrical displacer a,closed at both ends, but provided, preferably, at the top with arelief-valve b to prevent undesirable rise of pressure within thedisplacer. The displacer is adapted to reciprocate vertically within adisplacer-casing c, the lower portion d of which is heated by the hotgases arising from the gas jet or mantle of the burner and the upperpart c cooled by means of radiation, or "a water-jacket may be added tomeet exceptional atmospheric conditions. The middle portion of thecasing c is surrounded by an air-reservoir g, which consists simply ofan annular chamber surrounding the upper part of the lam p-body.

Before the date of this application for Letters Patent I have employed adisplacer operated by the agency of a diaphragm or piston attached tothe displacer and which was at one side continuously subject toatmospheric pressure and on the reverse side subject to variations ofpressure within the body of the lamp. The movement of such a diaphragmor piston, however, caused an increase or decrease in the internalcapacity of the containing vessel or body of the lamp of inlet andoutlet valves is and l. Thesevalves may be contained within a casing171., situated in the pipej, the left-hand portion of which serves thedouble purpose of delivery and inlet pipe. The delivery-valve consistsof a cylindrical passage or pipe '11, carrying the valve-disk Z on itsupper edge. The valvedisk Z is provided. with a flange 0, which overlapsthe flange 19, carried by the pipe 72, by means of which it is guided.The lift of the valve may be adjusted by means of the screw q, passingthrough the casing or cover m. Delivery of air to the reservoir g takesplace as indicated by the unfeathered arrows s. The inlet-valve consistsof a small tube t, inserted within the pipe or passage n. This tube isopen to the atmosphere at the bottom, but carries a valve-disk 75. Whenthe pressure of air in the cylinder h above the piston i is below thatof the atmosphere, the valve- .disk 7r, lifts and a fiow of air takesplace into the cylinder h, as indicated by the feathered arrows to inFig. l.

In order to prevent the displacer from knocking against the end of itscasing and to utilize its momentum for reversingits motion, I provide acushioning or buffer spring 00, whereby the energy is absorbed and arapid reaction or rebound is produced as soon as the direction of motionis reversed.

The piston 2' is allowed to overrun the cylinder 71 and to travel intothe enlarged extension at its head, alinement being preserved by thetail-bladesw. When the piston has overrun the cylinder proper, its poweras a piston then ceases, as equilibrium exists all around it, althoughsuch a pressure may obtain in the elastic fluid as to be causing adelivery through the outlet-valve into the reservoir. Obviously if thepiston traveled entirely within the limits of its cylinder and had itstop exposed to the atmosphere the upward impulse would still obtain aslong as the pressure continued above atmospheric, and reversal of motionwould have to be effected against or in spite of such pressure.

The cushioning-spring 0c is arranged to operate between two collars yand e on the piston-rod 2. The collar ,2 bears against a small cap 5,fastened to the end of the piston-rod 2. The piston-rod is provided witha ball or spherical end fitting into a socket in the piston, the extremeend of which is elongated and recessed to receive the end of a stud carried by the displacer. A pin passes through the elongation and the studin order to connect the displacer to the piston-rod. On the downwardstroke the piston rests, finally, by the collar at its upper end uponthe edge of the cylinder proper, and the momentum of the displacerpulling upon the piston rod draws it downward, compressing thebufferspring 1? until the momentum is absorbed and allowing the vacuumto be entirely filled by the inrush of air between the ball and socket.

The displacer Cb is suspended by the long spring 17 hereinbeforereferred to. One end of the spring is attached to the small cap 5, fixedto the end of the piston-rod 2, and the other end is attached to a hookr on the end of the tubular cap. The bottom edge of the tubular caprests upon a washer 8, bearing upon a nut 7, screwed upon the support 9.The cap 6 is of greater diameter than the support 9, over which it fits.The bottom of the tubular support screws into the pistoncover, a nut 11being provided to prevent it from working loose on account of vibration.The end of the tubular support projects a short distance into thecylinder, so that the washer z of the buffer arrangement may strikeagainst it when the piston reaches the top of its stroke. The tension ofthe spring may be so adjusted by raising or lowering the nut 7 that thedisplaoer shall stand at or near its mid-position when it is at rest. Alock-nut 10 may be provided to hold the nut 7 in its proper position.The lifting and lowering of the cap 6, which freely slides on the tube9, by agitating the spring 0 will give an initial start to thedisplacer, and this maybe effected by pulling a chain 14, which isattached to rocking levers 15, pivoted at the other extremity to the cap6 and resting upon the washer beneath it. A pull upon the chain willcause the levers to raise the cap, and therefore the spring attached tosame, and give motion to the displacer. This action may become necessaryif by reason of neglect to keep the valves clean one may not be quitetight. the intermediate piece 11 receives the impact of the washer .2,which it holds stationary, while the further movement of the piston anddisplacercompresses the springoc and absorbs the momentum.

The delivery and inlet pipej opens into the cylinder extension throughthe passage 13 near its top. When expansion is slowly effected-as, forinstance, when the lamp is newly lighted and the metal work of the lamphas to be heated up from a cold condition equilibrium will beestablished on both sides of the piston if the piston does not fitfairly well in the cylinder h, and there will be no tendency to startmotion. The valve Z,which controls the outlet-passage, is therefore madespecially heavy, so that it will not lift until a considerable pressurehas been raised. The whole area of the delivery-valve disk Z in relationto the area of the passage which it closes is such that the releasedfluid when it begins to lift, acting on the relatively large area of thevalve, rapidly and completely raises it, so that a very free exit ismade, and pressure on the top of the displacer-piston i is suddenlyremoved, thus upsetting the equilibrium and causing motion to ensue byreason of the excess of pressure below the piston. The travel thenbrings the buffer-spring into operation, and the motion is reversed,thus starting condensation and causing atmospheric pressure to drivedown the piston On the upward stroke of the piston The heat from theburner playing around the bottom of the displacer-casing expands the airwithin the casing and raises its pressure.

This air-pressure, acting upon the bottom of the piston i, causes thepiston and displacer to rise until the piston overruns the edge of thecylinder and the collar .2 comes in contact with the projecting tubularsupport 9. The compressed airin the casing is thus suddenly released,the How of air taking place through the piston-socket valve and aroundthe bottom edge of the piston. This air passes from the cylinder h tothe delivery-valve l, as indicated by the arrows s, into the casing: m,whence it flows by the delivery-pipe into the reservoir As soon asthepiston overruns the cylinder the pressure of air inside: the casing isreduced practically to that of The displacer then begins 1 theatmosphere. to drop under the combined action of gravity and theresistance of the bu fer-spring 0c, and as thedisplacermoves downward itdisplaces the hot air from the bottom of the casing to its cold upperpart.

duced in the casing. The vacuum in conjunction with the momentum of thedisplacer causes the latter to drop so far downward that the top flangeof the piston rests upon the opens. A sudden inrush of air then takesplace into'the casing through the socket-' This air is supplied from theatmos-' valve. phere through the tube 6 by lifting the valve andflowing, as indicated by the arrows 111, into. the cylinder h. Thedisplacer now rises under the tension of the springv and the resistanceof the buffer-spring w, and as it rises upward it displaces the coldair'in the upper part of the casing downward to the heated portion ofthe casing, thus causing an immediate expansion in its volume and acorresponding rise inits pressure, the piston thereby being forcedupward until it again overruns the edge of the cylinder. Further, as theinlet and outlet valves are permanently in direct communication with thespace at the top of the piston every reciprocating movement of thepiston, whether it be great or small, produces either a suction from theatmosphere or a useful discharge of air. Atter the first or initialimpulse the motion is continuously maintained by the alternations ofplenum and vacuum, thus causing outflowing and inflowing of the elasticfluid to act upon the piston. It'will be readily seen that by thismethod of working with a piston in a closed cylinder the losses which,as hereinbe- Contraction in volume immediately ensues and a vacuum isprofore described, occur when a piston or dia: phragm open to theatmosphere isiemployed are avoidedand the lamp is rendered moreefficient and even more reliable than has hitherto been the case.- Byemploying acylinder closed to the atmosphere in this manner the lossesdue to leakage are reduced to -a minimum. The closed cylinder alsoenables me to satisfactorily'usea much larger-diameter of piston inrelation to the diameter of the displacer than has hitherto beenpossible.

A further advantage obtained by my:in-.

vention-is that I may-successfully use considerably lower pressures thanare usually employed in self-intensifying lamps. I

In addition to employingthe louder-spring 00 I may use two separateby-pass passages 16 and 17. (Seen in Figs. 3, 4, 6, and 7.) I providethe by-pass 16 with a valve 18 and the by-pass 17 with a valve 19, eachvalve being of suitable weight to insure that only a certain differenceof pressure can exist under any circumstances between the elastic fluidabove and below the piston. By these means the upstroke may be put undera dif- I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an elastic-fluid compressor operated by heat, a spring-suspendedpiston opera tively connected with a displacer and'working in a cylinderclosed fromatmosphere at both ends, such closure preventing loss ofelastic fluid by leakage, and inlet and outlet means for the fluid,substantially as tie scribed.

2. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employ-- ing a displacer operatingwithin an unequallyheated casing, a cylindrical extension on the end ofthe displacer-casing, a cover closing the cylindrical extension from theatmosphere, and inlet and outlet valves automatically operated by thevarying pressures of elastic fluid at the top of the piston,substantially asdescribed. i p

3. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp operated within anunequally-heatedcasing, acylindrical extension on the end of thedisplacer- IIO casing, a piston operating within the extension, a coveron the extension, an air-tight tubularspring-support carried by thecover,

a spring within and depending from this support, the piston anddisplacer being carried by the spring, and inlet and outlet valves &

automaticallyoperated by the varying pressures of elastic fluid at thetop of the piston, substantially as described.

4. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employing a displacer operated withinan unequallyheated casing, a closed cylindrical extension on thedisplacer -casing, a piston operated within the extension, an abruptenlargement in the diameter of the extension at a position near the endof the upstroke of the piston, whereby direct communication between theelastic fluid on both sides of the piston is effected just before theend of the upstroke, guides on the piston, and inlet and outlet valvesautomatically operated by the varying pressures of elastic fluid at thetop of the piston, substantially as described.

5. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employing adisplacer operating withinan unequallyheated casing, a closed cylindrical extension on thedisplacer-casing, a piston operating within the extension, an abruptenlargement in the diameter of the extension at a position near the endof the stroke of the piston,whereby direct communication between theelastic fluid on both sides of the piston is effected just before theend of the upstroke, a bufierspring between the piston and the cover ofthe extension, guides on the piston, and inlet and outlet valvesautomatically operated by the varying pressures of elastic fluid at thetop of the piston, substantially as described.

6. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employing a displacer operatingwithin an unequallyheated casing, a cylindrical extension on thedisplacer-casing, a piston operating within the extension, asocket-bearing on the under side of the piston,a piston-rod passingthrough the piston and having a supporting-spring connected to one ofits ends, a spherical head formed on its other end, which head forms asocket-joint with the socket-bearing of the piston, and also carries thedisplacer, and a flange on the top edge of the piston to suddenly stopthe piston when it reaches the bottom of its stroke, whereby themomentum of the displacer and piston opens the socketjoint and equalizesthe fluid-pressure on both sides of the piston, substantially asdescribed.

7. In a self-intensified lamp, a casing unequally heated, a displacerwithin the casing, said casing having an extension under cover, a pistonconnected with the displacer, a buffer-spring situated between thepiston and the cover of the casing, said buffer-spring being operativeat both ends of the pistonstroke, and inlet and outlet means for thefluid, substantially as described.

8. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employing a displacer operatingwithin an unequallyheated casing, a hand starting device, comprising asupporting-tube carried by the top of the displacer-cylinder, a longtubular cap passed over the supporting-tube, a displacersupportingspring carried by the tubular cap, an adjustable nut on thesupporting-tube, upon which nut the edge of the tubular cap normallyrests, a forked lever pivoted at one end to the cap, the lever having aprojection forming a fulcrum with the nut, a hand connection at itsother end, whereby the cap may be lifted and the movement of the pistoncommenced, substantially as described.

9. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employinga displacer operating withinan unequallyheated casing,in combination with adisplacercasing extensionand piston closed to the atmosphere, a valve-controlled passage betweenthe top of the extension and the top of the displacer-casing, a passageserving the double purpose of inlet and delivery pipeconnecting the topof the extension with a valvecasing-situated in the delivery-pipe to theair-reservoir; a delivery-valve in the valvecasing, said valveconsisting of a flanged disk supported upon the edge of a circular andraised delivery-passage of small area in relation to the diameter of thedelivery-valve, and a delivery-passage to the air-reservoir; and aninlet-valve in the same valve-casing consisting of a disk of smalldiameter in relation to the delivery-valve, the disk being supportedconcentrically within the raised delivery-passage upon a tube which isopen at one end to the atmosphere, substantially as set forth.

10. In a self-intensifying gas-lamp employinga displacer operatingwithin an unequallyheated casing, in combination with cylindricalextension of the casing closed to the atmosphere, a piston operatingwithin the casing, a valve-controlled passage between the casin g andthe top of the extension to permit flow of fluid from the former to thelatter, a valvecontrolled passage between the casing and the top of theextension to permit flow of fluid from the latter to the former, andinlet and outlet valves automatically operated by the varying pressuresof elastic fluid at the top of the piston, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES SCOTT-SNELL.

Witnesses:

FRED W. KEMP, HECTOR C. MUNRO.

